Photo: Bob Franklin

An explanation from the online redaction

We are also regularly asked why we publish photos of accidents. And just like rtl.lu we have also considered an answer to this question.

Broken metal, shattered glass, bodies smashed and battered, burst airbags, shredded fabric remnants still hanging from the window, the car upside down and blood on the road. Absolutely crazy! How crazy it would be if there was still a severed hand lying on the road. Unimaginable! Yes… so why all this? Such questions often come from people who have just lost a loved one – an acquaintance, a friend, a family member – in a car accident. If this is the case for you, then allow us to first express our deepest condolences. A loss always hurts, especially when it is very recent or when you are reminded of it. That’s just how it is! That’s life. These are emotional emergencies, for which we naturally have complete understanding. If you were sitting here in our editorial office right now, we would give you a tissue too! Honestly, we feel so sorry for you. But enough with the emotional rant for now. Accidents are just information, like all the others. No, in fact, they are even better. They are information that is incredibly easy to click on and share. In 4th and 5th place among our most clicked articles this year, even before the „parliamentary elections“ and the „coronation of King Charles III“, our accidents are. 4th place among our click champions and a journalistic masterpiece: „Accidented truck, highway reopened“. And we also know why this is: The photos! If photos are available, then we have to bring them. After all, privacy, human dignity and such emotional memories are secondary.

Of course, we check pictures of accidents very carefully:

– Who do the photos come from? Most accident photos come from our reporters. Or from the police or fire departments, in other words from „official“ sources, where you can assume responsible handling – because they are after all concerned with documenting a crime. If a few unpleasant things are seen there, then that is also part of the investigation and must therefore be taken up by the press without exaggeration. Sometimes we also get photos from people/users, so-called „mobile reporters“ who happened to catch something. Yes, we admit, we are grateful to these people/users if they pass on information to us so that we can inform more authentically. The shattered windshield lying on the roadway – authentic! You can almost still hear the screams and groans of the injured there.

– What criteria are there for photos? Of course we want to inform as quickly as possible, but it is not our goal that families learn sad news from the media – not our goal, but collateral damage, which sometimes happens in life. C’est la vie. And we basically do not show corpses or other motifs that could shock. Basically! We have already had the case where we withheld information about a fatal accident and also photos of it at the request of the police. But on Facebook, very clear pictures with very concrete information were already doing the rounds. And if Facebook is allowed to engage in clickbaiting with something like this – why should we refrain from doing so? Here you always have to weigh up.

– How many photos are published? This question also comes up regularly. „Wasn’t one photo enough?“ is a very common reproach. Or: „Couldn’t you have taken a more harmless photo?“ Of course, such questions are absolutely justified. Keep asking! Of course, it is hardly possible to bring the view of someone highly involved and the opinion of an ideally objective RTL1 editorial team, which can judge with hindsight, to a common denominator. Subjectively, an accident is terrible – especially when people lose their lives or are seriously injured. Objectively, an accident is a click monster! And somehow, as a media, you also have to keep the user on the hook. That’s why we are convinced that you can and should show more photos of an accident or incident. Sometimes one or two are enough, sometimes a dozen, sometimes it’s a complete gallery of pictures! You have to deliberately click on something to see something. So anyone who doesn’t want to see a photo gallery of an accident can basically avoid it without any problems.

– Do such information and photos have to be brought in at all? As editors, we would answer this question with a clear yes.

- Journalists have a duty to inform and must inform if they have learned of something that they consider relevant. Say, what they consider clickable, likeable and shareable.

- Many people want to be informed. There is often only a thin line between compassion and voyeurism. We rely on confirmed information and, for example, we cling to the privacy of people/victims as far as possible, even if we are repeatedly „stung“ by information about possible causes of accidents.

- The most important reason comes last: With all due respect for individual concerns, feelings, sensitivities, preferences, choices, as a journalist you unfortunately cannot always take everything into account. After all, it’s all about clicks! It’s a bit like freedom of the press: We have the right to outrageous headlines and sensational pictures – no matter what personal rights we violate. Once you start drawing limits, you’ll eventually be unable to get out of them.

That’s why we believe that checking on a case-by-case basis is the best and only way. In this case-by-case examination, we almost always find that we have everything! And if something should have gone online that for plausible reasons shouldn’t have, contact us. An exchange of views sometimes works wonders and usually we come to an agreement. This is how you can contact RTL1: post@rtl1.lu or via Feedback